Mogadishu: Somali pirates who captured an
oil-laden Greek tanker a week ago today warned against any
attempt by foreign naval forces to free the vessel by force.
Hijacked on November 29 with a crew of 16 Filipinos,
nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and a Romanian, the Greek-flagged
Maran Centauraus -- a very large crude carrier -- is now
anchored off the pirate lair of Haradhere, they said.
"We are getting some information that foreign forces
are planning to free the ship by force but we warn against any
such endeavour because it will have very unpleasant
consequences," a pirate who gave his name as Abdi Hasan said.
"There are more than 50 men on board the tanker now
and we are prepared resist any rescue attempt," he told by phone from Haradhere.
On December 2, the 332-metre-long ship was brought to
the pirate base of Hobyo but has subsequently been moved
further south to Harardhere, local fishermen said.
"The big ship is now close to the coast of Harardhere
and there are many heavily-armed pirates shuttling between the
ship and the shore all the time," Osmail Abdullahi Togane, one
of the fishermen, said.
"They are guarding this ship more than others, I think
they fear attacks by the warship that can be seen patrolling
further out in the ocean," he said.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 05, 2009, 22:29